


First comes marriage

by JiangChengIsMySon



Series: The sea and the stars [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: -kinda, Arranged Marriage, Bisexual Jason Grace, Bottom Nico di Angelo, Confident Nico di Angelo, Denial of Feelings, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Gay Nico di Angelo, Hades (Percy Jackson) is a Good Parent, M/M, Pining Nico di Angelo, Political Alliances, Porn with Feelings, Ritual Public Sex, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Top Jason Grace, Updates once a month? (im a starving student pls give me some slack)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JiangChengIsMySon/pseuds/JiangChengIsMySon
Summary: “Of all things his father would request of him, Nico never expected it to be marriage, much less with a certain son of Jupiter.”As per usual the Gods allow their children to take care of their misdoings. Or, in which Nico and Jason must marry to reinforce Hades’s place in Olympus and to sooth Zeus worries of betrayal.Jason and Nico surprisingly take the ‘quest’ better than their friends and finds the situation hilarious…until it gets serious.“I’m the Goddess of Marriages but my Marriage is everything but ideal, I would rather partake your ‘untraditional’ marriage than this one” – Hera, being surprisingly decent.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez/Original Female Character(s), Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The sea and the stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021711
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	First comes marriage

In hindsight Nico should have noticed the problem sooner- or more precisely the foreboding aura that built up in his gut whenever Hades mentioned a _certain_ son of Jupiter.

The first time Jason’s name popped up in conversation was during dinner, and to those unaware of Hades’s disdain for anything related to his brothers, they would have presumed it to just be an attempt -albeit awkward- to show interest to their son’s friends.

It had been weird and sudden. The question taking both him and Hades by surprise judging by the, subtle, but nonetheless present face of confusion, and the more telling action of him angrily choking from the food he had yet swallowed. Demeter let out a hysterical laugh than, pointing at the grape that Hades had choked on and that was now rolling down, its shameful footprints staining Persephone’s favorite table cloth.

Persephone scolded both stepson and mother for their childishness and Nico had to ask him to repeat the question, not hearing it the first time due to his overstuffed pallet, to which Hades answered with denial, claiming he had no questions in the first place.

Nico had learnt two things then, the first was that on the rare occasions his father was nervous -yes, the lord of the dead _can_ be nervous- he would often blurt out his thoughts with no concern if it was an appropriate moment or not (or if his mouth was ready to form a sentence).

The second was that Nico should really trust his gut, and that he could have sworn that he heard the name _Jason_ spill out of his father’s lips.

But Nico was too busy laughing at the absurd idea that the lord of the dead could be so easily besieged by a piece of grape, completely trumping everything else- and with much success, erased his suspicions surrounding Jason off his mind.

The second time it happened though, Nico couldn’t ignore it.

Nico had just finished an errand when he was summoned to his father’s throne room. A portal had appeared in the middle of his living room which worked wonders in scaring the living shit out of his roommate. Regretfully though Nico _had_ to enter said portal and couldn’t rest on the now unoccupied sofa.

He did it begrudgingly and appeared on the other side where his father would be waiting on his throne, and immediately Nico could feel that something was off.

It didn’t take a genius to note that he _wasn’t_ in the Underworld, because as a resident of the Underworld he knew that blasting Ariana Grande’s newest song didn’t quite fit his father’s aesthetics and would do next to nothing to intimidate the poor souls who by and then, mistakenly venture into his palace. There was also the unbidden fact that the Underworld, much less Hades’s throne room wasn’t located in the sunlit center of a mall.

Nico stared, blinking several times and rubbing at his eyes as if to restart it, but the sound of his father’s voice that rang beside him notified Nico of the fact that: _Yes_ , his father did just summon him to a mall.

Now, it wasn’t that weird really. Hades was one of the few Olympians that _actually_ took responsibility for their children instead of just dumping them into a Camp with strangers and a centurion- not that said centurion wasn’t capable- just that, in Nico’s most humble opinion, if you give birth to a child then you should at least _try_ to aid their survival. But that was another problem for another day and Nico- who had just finished a rather lengthy and stress inducing errand- wasn’t exactly in the mood for a dad and son bonding moment just yet.

This message was clear in Nico’s face, or at least he tried too.

Instead what must have come out was a weak pout some might call cute or in Persephone’s opinion, ugly, for Hades either ignored it or didn’t notice and dragged Nico into several stores, blindly reaching out into racks and buying overpriced items without even forcing Nico to try them on. (Nico knew it was for him because Hades would never buy something as raunchy as a skull t-shirt)

It had happened in a blur, like he had been drunk the whole time and sober the moment Hades let go of his hand and pushed him into what appeared to be a random doorway.

What was on the other side stunned him but thinking back it should have been obvious.

There, on the other side was a simple set up of a table with a dimly lit candle in the middle, illuminating the face of a very familiar looking demigod.

“I think my dad just set us up” Nico blurted out and something akin to disbelieved laughter bubbled up in his throat.

Jason- who was sitting on the chair in front of the table- the dim orange glow of the flickering candle morphing his usually friendly face into something sinister- chuckled.

He dragged a resting hand and brought it up to his chin- then curled one of his fingers between his lips. A new habit, Nico thought, his eyes following Jason’s movements. “you think?” Jason asked, but it was not a question, and Nico reveled in the darkness of his voice, the deep base felt heavy- like a rock sinking into the murky depths of the waters- pulling Nico down with it.

But Nico pulled himself up the surface before his feet grazed the surface of the water. He focused on the embers- the sparks from the flame- and from Jason’s perspective he must be looking directly at him.

They talked for a bit, casually as they did two years ago- for it has been two years since they last met, and both have grown. Jason was still Jason- Nico happily lamented, and although his blonde hair had grown longer- fluffier, Nico would say- his sense of style more collage-boy-like now that he opted for contact lenses rather than his glasses and his tongue sharper, there were still a whole lot left of the Jason Nico knew back then.

They left thirty minutes later, surprisingly the dinner date set up was far back in their minds and they left the room as it had been. Instead they traversed through the large mall and Nico was happy to inform Jason that they were in fact, somewhere in Europe, which than forced Jason to drag Nico into all of the possible tourists shops- finding bits and trinkets in every store which varied from a cliché postcard that simply said _‘greetings from Berlin’_ , matching t-shirts and matching anklets of the stars and moon- or at least they _tried_ too, instead they ended up with a anklet of a star motive for Nico and bracelet that depicted a tiny wave (apparently depicting the great wave of Kanagawa) for Jason.

When Nico retired to his apartment that night his father was waiting for him. His father regarded him the same way one would with an approaching wild cayote, “how was your day?”

Nico looked down at himself, at the t-shirt that had the words _‘I love Berlin’_ printed with bold letters, he felt the anklet move against his bony ankle and the rustling of shopping bags as he threw them haphazardly on the sofa. He narrowed his eyes at him, arms crossed against his chest.

“So…did Cupid need a new intern or is the Underworld just boring for you now?”

His fathers’ lips thinned, pressing them against each other as if to stop himself from saying anything.

Later his father would mention Jason again, and yet again they were in the middle of eating except that this time it wasn’t Hades with exceptionally foul dining manners and instead it was Nico’s roommate -John- who snorted out his water in surprise upon realizing that the lord of the dead himself, was eating at his table (and that he was now munching on the food he himself cooked).

Hades ignored him, happily slicing a piece of chorizo in half, bringing it to his lips before stating:

“Jason and Piper have broken up, I have heard”

“oh” Nico said, raising a curious brow. He turned to John as if to clarify that he heard correctly but the guy was too busy wiping his nose and throwing the now soaked food into the trash, Nico turned back to Hades who now had a mouthful of food, “that’s…sad”

Hades deflated for some reason, swallowed down his meal before washing his throat with water, “really?” Nico nodded, confirming that yes, indeed, breakups were sad and for some reason it didn’t strike him odd that Jason and Piper had broken up- he tried not to think too much about _why_. 

“So, what do you think of Jason?” His dad continued testing Nico’s patience because really- he came here to eat, not to talk about his father’s weird obsession with Jason. There was also a question that was gnawing Nico’s head ever since he returned from Berlin. His dad never did things without reason and he was afraid of what his question would answer, instead he said:

“I…don’t like where this is going dad”

“Do you…dislike him?”

“…No”

They left it at that, Nico should not have.

The third time Hades was straight forward.

They were strolling down Persephone’s garden, the fields of flowers stretching far into the horizons.

Hades’s face was blank, his voice void of seriousness and an air of casualty decorated his movements, “what do you think of marriage?” he asked.

Nico whirled his head around, vaguely stunned at the sudden diversion from Nico’s retelling of the time he had been turned to corn- to marriage of all things. “uhh” he said instead.

Hades stopped in his tracks, oddly enough the scenery around them seemed to halt as well- Persephone’s flowers stood straighter, the leaves no longer dancing in the mysterious winds of the Underworld. Hades’s hands that he had wrapped around his back retracted and he began to fumble with the hem of his cloak like some schoolgirl about to confess their love to their crush. It was highly disturbing.

“well…” Nico drawled after a few moments, trying to rack his brain for viable responses since Hades was still, clearly waiting for one, “it’s uh- cool?” he answered and to his surprise he saw his father bob his head, nodding like it had been the most smartest thing his son had ever said- and walked away, leaving Nico speechless and vaguely traumatized, wondering what in the Hades was happening.

It wasn’t until the next day he got his answers. He kind of wishes he never did. 

The first thing he took note of was that he was yet again- not in the Underworld. Instead the world around him was blaring with light that offended his newly awoken eyelids. He instinctively pried his eyes open at the feeling of someone shaking his whole body awake- only to regret it once a blinding light filled his vision. His senses were muddy and from a distance he heard the muffled sounds of someone talking. Suddenly the shaking stopped, and the muffled sounds drew closer- and from the way warmth spread through his face and the unmistakable scent of morning breath- someone was violently violating Nico’s sense of space.

Nico willed his body awake, ignoring the ridiculously soft surface he currently lied on that threatened to drag him back to sleep. He snapped his eyes open and registered his surroundings- not at all surprised to not see neither the grey ceiling of his bedroom apartment, nor the dark marble ceiling of his room in the Underworld. Instead he saw vast skies, a baby blue with sparse clouds -the sun was missing despite the exceptionally good lighting- and when he peered down towards his feet, he saw tall pillars, they were majestic, seeming to reach the heavens and at the foot of them were people Nico immediately recognized.

They ran towards him and arrived at the foot of his bed just in time for Nico to raise himself up in a more comfortable sitting position- and for Nico to realize that he wasn’t alone in bed. He turned towards the stranger that had been sitting on his right.

Jason smiled at him the way one would when meeting the sun’s rays after a painstakingly long winter, or the belated feeling Nico would get whenever John would bring McDonalds after a particularly long day, both were understatements, but Nico couldn’t ponder on a third before a hand yanked him forwards and into a hug.

The air tasted of cinnamon and Nico flinched again once the scent of morning breath filled his lungs, he recoiled, twisting against the hug but the arms around his waist were stubborn. Of course, his attempts were merely for show- he would never deny his sister of anything, but he had a reputation to hold.

Hazel nuzzled at the crook of his neck, her weight a comfortable pressure against Nico’s and he allowed himself to fall back against the bed. Reveling silently at the silken touch against his skin.

Hazel peered down at him, her caramel locks blocking the mysterious light from hitting Nico’s face, instead it was her golden eyes that glowed.

“Hey sis” Nico said.

Immediately Hazel scowled, raising a hand to hit the side of Nico’s head lightly as she scolded, “Don’t hey sis me! You haven’t contacted me for weeks!”

Nico averted his eyes but was quick to realize that from this position there was really no escape, “I was busy” It wasn’t exactly a lie, he _had_ been busy- maybe not _busy-_ as in Dad-Ordered-Me-To-Do-Errands busy, but he was busy nonetheless.

Hazel didn’t buy it if her expression said anything, she had a flat stare on her face and opened her mouth to say something before a familiar voice called in the background. Hazel turned towards the voice which and Nico took the opportunity to slink out from the position, he crawled backwards, only to find himself crash into something hard.

It was Jason again and Nico felt relief wash over him when he was yet again graced with Jason’s blinding smile and the absurd thought that the reason why the place was so well lit without the presence of the sun- was because of Jason.

But those thoughts quickly eased their way out of Nico’s mind when Jason parted his lips to speak.

Nico couldn’t help it, it had disturbed him all day and the words fell out before he could stop them, “your morning breath sucks”

Jason closed his mouth immediately and for a moment Nico wondered if he had offended him, but a second later Nico’s worries were washed away like the ocean would wash the shores- when Jason’s features filled with mirth and laughter bubbled out of him- it reminded Nico of firecrackers, of the way a bubblegum pops in his mouth, creating a sound that reverberates through his whole body.

It was odd really, to find such a mundane thing entertaining to the point of fondness.

The odd moment was cut off however when Nico’s body was pulled yet again, this time an arm had snaked around his neck and Nico yelped as he was thrown back, “Nico!” said the offender, voice awfully high and cheerful for a man that will soon face his doom.

Nico twisted his body and jabbed a sharp elbow at Percy’s side -having seen Annabeth do the same countless of times he knew this was one of the ways to put him at place. Thankfully it worked and Percy let out a cry, but the hand holding Nico in place didn’t budge.

Nico craned his neck to face Percy and immediately regretted it, for the demigod’s face was only a hair away from his own. Nico recoiled- unfortunately for Percy he was not in the list of those exempt from Nico’s personal space rule, in fact Percy was one of the reasons why this rule existed- the guy had no concept of personal space, especially since two years ago when Nico made the mistake to tell him that they were friends.

“let go, Percy” Nico tried to say, instead the words that came out were jumbled together for Percy now decided to violate the personal space rule even more and cup Nico’s cheeks together until Nico’s mouth formed an ugly pout.

Percy didn’t answer, instead he proceeded to gawk at Nico’s face and Nico fought hard to suppress a flush- he was over Percy, really, the crush had been one of Nico’s dumbest mistakes but still the-10-year-old part of him enjoyed the attention he was receiving.

“Guys! Guys! Look it’s Nico!” he forcibly tugged Nico’s chin forwards to the rest of the group and Nico didn’t even have time to observe them before he was tugged back, his face inappropriately close to Percy’s “Dude! You’re hot now!” he exclaimed and from the front Nico swore he heard someone slap their palm against their forehead- he suspected it to be Annabeth.

“Percy, let Nico go” A voice that Nico knew to be Annabeth’s called and Percy immediately abided. It’s been two years and Nico still didn’t know how Annabeth did it, both putting up with Percy and being the only person besides his mother to tell him what to do.

The pressure from Percy’s hold on Nico’s jaw remained even after he hesitantly unlatched themselves, and Nico rubbed furiously at the spot, as to which Percy gawked offensively, “hey! I’m not dirty!” he protested.

“you’re disgusting” he bit out and finally turned towards Annabeth, “how do you put up with him?”

Annabeth shrugged, her lip curling into a pleasant smile as she regarded Nico, “you _have_ grown Nico, rather handsome might I say” she said, and if Nico was red before, he was redder now, _no wonder people thought I had a crush on Annabeth_ , he thought to himself as he pressed his cold palms against flushed cheeks.

Annabeth was beautiful -even dressed in mismatched pajamas and eyebags- even as a gay man Nico acknowledged that fact, and the years served her well. Her long wavy hair was now cut short- just past her shoulders and her skin was tanner- in fact, now that Nico thought about it both Annabeth and Percy looked like they belonged near the seas- whether it was for a swimsuit photoshoot or just living near it.

“holy shit,, dude you’re hair’s long!” Leo, who, from what Nico could observe, was still the shortest of the seven loudly exclaimed- his face was stained with grease and the toolbox he fastened on his belt clattered as he flailed his limbs. He had grown too, his hair longer, physic sturdier- but Nico was quick to avert his gaze.

Nico nodded sagely and raised a hand to the back of his neck- yes, his hair was indeed long.

Beside Leo was Piper, who stuck out like a sore thumb. Not in a bad way, per say, but whereas everyone was dressed in sleeping attire -sans Leo who was clearly in the middle of working on something- Piper looked ready to strut down a red carpet, with glittery dress and full glam makeup.

This must have shown in his face for Piper quickly chipped in, “My cousin wanted to play dress up” she looked slightly embarrassed but was not too show it, “oh uh hi Nico, long time no see” she waved, seeming to remember that they hadn’t seen each other for years and that a greeting was probably needed.

Nico returned the greeting, nodding ever so slightly. Him and Piper weren’t particularly close, one might describe their relationship to be ‘ _the friend of a friend’._ In fact, Nico would describe his relationship with Leo the same as well, it wasn’t that he didn’t like either of them, it was just that he hadn’t had the opportunity to hang around them (thanks’ Dad) and he had reasons to surround himself with Jason (thanks’ Cupid) and Frank (thanks’ Hazel).

Beside him he heard Jason move closer towards him and yet he still jumped when a cold hand pressed against his shoulder, he shivered slightly when he felt the ghost of Jason’s breath near his earlobes, “Do you know where we are?”

Years ago, Nico would find the closeness unnecessary but out of all the seven -minus his sister- he found himself grow closest with Jason, especially recently. His father’s plan- whatever it was- worked wonders and after the quick trip to Berlin, him and Jason had been finding themselves in each other’s presence more often- in Jason’s apartment or shadowtraveling the both of them into a foreign country for a mini vacation.

So instead of flinching from the touch, Nico leaned in, his movement casual as he shrugged, “no but it looks remarkably like it belongs in Olympus don’t you think?”

Jason’s sky-blue eyes rivaled the clearness of the skies as he stared up, his lips parting in an exhale, “yeah, you’re right, there’s also no sun” he muttered.

Nico tilted his head up to see what he already knew, he placed his arms back to tilt his weight backwards until his head bumped into the broad of Percy’s back -oh right, he was still there- and squinted at the skies. There was indeed no sun, and when he lolled his head to side there was no sight of land nor hills peering in between the tall pillars.

Nico hummed, “it’s like we’re floating” he observed and turned back toward Jason, who had an odd look on his face, he quickly averted his gaze though and stared pointedly behind Nico where the rest of the group was.

Suddenly, a thought struck Nico and he turned towards Hazel who had been sitting silently on Nico’s right the whole time. Hazel had a perturbed look on her face, her eyes flitting between Nico and Jason.

“Where’s Frank?” Nico asked.

Hazel grew alarmed at the question, now noticing that her brother was asking _her_ , “oh!” she piped, her whole body raising, “he’s- aha, he’s sleeping, he isn’t much of a morning person” she looked fond at the thought of Frank and Nico’s eyes wandered around the room -which he now noticed was circular with only the pillars to separate the floors from what looked like the heavens- and he quickly spotted Frank’s sleeping figure in the distance, he looked at peace, totally unaware of what was happening around him.

Nico shifted his attention back towards the group, “so…does anyone know where we are?” it was a stupid question, but he had to ask it anyway.

Piper was the first to answer, whilst the other’s merely shook their heads. Piper must have been annoyed, probably hearing the question all too much for her eyebrows were furrowed and her stare pointed- although Nico found it odd that her glare stuck at him- before promptly fixing her stare to the ground.

Nico frowned at everyone’s answers, at the same time that he became more acutely aware of his surroundings and more specifically himself- he stared at his body, already feeling the coldness on his skin due to the thin and transparent garments he wore. He was dressed in a robe tailored by his good friend Lena, and if something was tailored by Lena it meant boosting the sex appeal no matter if the garment in question was an oversized t-shirt- or in his case, a simple bathrobe- an almost transparent one to be precise, the outline of his boxers and the lace hems were all of purpose.

It seemed as if Percy had just noticed it as well, for a flush had ridden his cheekbones and he whirled his neck with such speed Nico was beginning to grow concerned.

The embarrassed display was highly amusing to Nico, but before he could tease him further- just to see how flushed Percy could become- a thundering crash erupted from the skies above them.

The groups attention zeroed into the darkened skies and the booming noise, and from the corner of Nico’s eyes he could see a few had drawn out their swords while some were in battle stance.

It was quiet for a moment, and the crashing sounds had gone silent, the sky lightened and yet the tension in the air didn’t diffuse, their grips on their swords unwavering.

Nico glanced at Percy- a true hero, his mind supplied- aaand immediately swallowed the words down when he twisted his body around- only to overcompensate the weight on his left foot, loose his balance and faceplant on the cold, marble flooring.

 _Now_ , it was truly silent.

Only for a few seconds though for the room immediately boomed with laughter- Leo had doubled up on the floor, clutching his stomach while his face couldn’t seem to decide between pain and delight.

Piper a fist in her mouth in a poor attempt to stifle it.

Beside Nico he heard Hazel giggle- the adorable one- and Jason he more so felt rather then heard. He had his head against his chest -he didn’t know how he got into this position- and felt the rumble of a suppressed laugh deep into his lungs.

Frank was now awake and looked the most confused Nico had ever seen him.

Annabeth- Nico observed, looked like she wanted a divorce, and they weren’t even married yet.

 _Now that_ , was funny to Nico and he laughed as well, joining the choir of joy and laughter.

Until of course:

“DEMIGODS”

The thunder was back, but it had now formed words and appeared in the form of Zeus.

He looked regal, _godly_ , and yet he summoned everything _but_ respect in their hearts.

Zeus was…floating, for lack of better words, a few feats above them, and surrounding him- or more like the entire group- were the other Olympians. They were all situated above the pillars, Nico’s own father and Poseidon taking their seats on either side of Zeus.

Zeus regarded them with his sky-blue eyes -same as Jason’s, and yet holding none of the same gentleness- combed through his thick white beard with a wrinkled finger as if carefully choosing his words.

He was taking far too long and Percy had begun to impatiently tap his foot rather loudly.

Zeus frowned- Nico thought, at least, he _always_ looked displeased.

He ignored Percy and cleared his throat before proceeding.

“Good morning Demigods, we summon you here today to present a union-” Zeus said, simply like he had not just- you know, summoned them with no preamble or warnings, a sticky note would have sufficed even.

“it’s like 6.00 in the morning?” nobody was surprised that Percy was the first to voice his discontent, even Zeus seemed used to it by now and merely rolled his eyes before continuing his monologue.

“-you will all bear witness to the promise of this union”

“sorry did I say 6.00 I meant 5.00-“

“you will fall silent Perseus Jackson!” Zeus voice echoed in their ears and Frank -who had now made his way to Hazel’s side- visibly shuddered, “or I will strike you down”

Percy, who had managed to piss all the Gods off and still, miraculously, manage to stay alive was not affected by his threats, instead it was Annabeth’s simple glare that silenced him. He pouted.

Zeus nodded, offering a _smile?_ Again, this was just Nico’s assumptions, towards Annabeth, before continuing.

“Every single one of you have been chose to bear witness to this union-“

“what union?” Percy piped in, and to his surprise Annabeth didn’t make a move to stop him, it seemed like she was curious too.

Zeus shut his eyes, hands folded in a prayer like position- which was immensely funny to Nico, as if Zeus himself had to pray to other Gods to contain the rage he had for Percy Jackson.

Zeus took a few breaths, snatching a newly poured cup of wine from the poor unsuspecting Ganymedes’s hands and chugging its contents down. Red smeared his white beard and he opened his mouth to speak, “It’s a union to secure your father’s place in Olympus”

Percy looked confused, his mouth agape like a fish out of water, “ _my_ father?”

Zeus rolled his eyes, “no! you buffoon! The one behind you”

It took six pair of eyes digging holes into Nico’s that he finally realized that it was _his_ father Zeus was talking about. “oh” he said as if he was just struck with a realization- he wasn’t, he was still as lost as before, and although it didn’t strike him odd that his fathers place on Olympus was still doubted by Zeus, he had no idea what the guy meant by union.

“uhhh” he started, feeling Zeus pointed gaze at him, “and what is this union?”

Zeus smiled, but Nico felt everything but pleasant or welcomed. He looked manic and there was a wild glint to his eyes. “why, your father must’ve told you already has he not?”

He glanced at Nico’s father who looked as unresponsive as ever, but in Nico’s eyes he knew his dad was rolling his eyes, “I introduced him to the idea” he simply stated, but Nico’s questioning stare made him continue, “I’m afraid I haven’t been clear though.

Nico nodded and pressed for him to continue.

Hades pressed his lips into a line, opening it a few times as if too carefully choose his words, “Nico, my son” He stared at his son below him, fingers tapping at the arm of his throne, “in ancient times, what was the tool most used to ensure a union between two…” his eyes flitted between him and Zeus, he looked pained, “families”

Nico shifted his weight on the mattress, tilting his head to the side. “union?...tool? ah!” dark eyes glimmered with realization, “marriage!” he announced, voice chipper, happy to find out the answer.

Hades nodded, confirming.

Nico’s happiness simmered down quick though, his mind filled with images of the past months, Hades’s odd demeanor- _was it?_

No, it can’t be.

Hades eyes bore into his, and that was enough of a confirmation.

He was happy- to finally understand _why_ his father was weird, but the revelation felt like- well, honestly Nico didn’t know what to think, all he knows was that if the Gods think they would abide their will so easily, they were about to be disappointed.

Resolve bubbled in Nico, and for a moment he was pissed, _an arranged marriage? With Jason? They have no right to just-_

Thankfully, Leo’s voice forced Nico to return from his thoughts, “am I the only one _still_ confused?” he asked around the room, and then to Nico, “Hey, Nico, explain” he simply stated, noticing the weird expression on is face.

“I…don’t know” Nico lied, he had an idea, an inkling, but he refused to be the one to deliver such news.

Annabeth understood clearly though, “you mean, we are to witness a union? And by union you mean marriage?” It wasn’t a question, more like a need for confirmation and Zeus nodded at her words.

“yes indeed”

Annabeth raised a brow, crossing her arms together and leaning onto Percy -who had magically appeared a hair away from where she was standing. “Why?”

Now it was Zeus’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “didn’t I already say? To secure my brother’s-“

Annoyance painted Annabeth’s features, her brows were now furrowed and the dark circles around her eyes accentuated how much she hated this entire conversation, “ _no_ , who is Nico marrying?”

At her side, Percy smirked and looped an arm around her shoulders, but not before registering her words. Percy flinched and so did the rest, his face contorted into a milliard of experssions, at first confused, then understanding, and then rage.

The room boomed with disagreements, words thrown out left and right, from the demigods to start with but even from a few gods who wanted to join in the chaos.

At Nico’s side, he felt Jason stiffen.

Zeus banged his fist on the arms of his golden throne, the sound reverberating through the room and through the demigods, he let out a guttural roar promptly silencing the chatter.

 _How mature,_ Nico thought.

The silence only lasted for a few seconds though before Hazel angrily shouted at her father, “Father! How could you allow this?”

Hades looked slightly guilty at that, he sucked in a breath, fingers digging harder on the armrest and yet his only response was silence. He met Hazels eyes for a brief moment before averting his gaze. ¨

At this Hazel seethed and Frank, who stood closest to her took a step back, before deciding that it was probably his responsibility to make sure Hazel doesn’t accidently summons the wrath of her fathers. Nico thinks Frank’s priorities should be more for his safety.

Poseidon, who had sat silent the whole time finally spoke, “let me speak instead, brother”

Zeus was ready to argue but one final glance at the group, and more specifically Percy made him more than willing to let Poseidon talk.

Poseidon’s voice was gentler as he spoke, sea green eyes glimmering, “demigods, I implore you to settle down and let us speak as civilized as possible”

Hazel laughed, haughtily, “Civilized? You guys are selling my brother-!”

Nico cut her off at that moment.

“Hazel”

Thousands of eyes seemed to pierce through his body at that moment, but he continued, “It’s okay, no need to defend my dignity”

“but-“

“Its true that Father has been leaving clues, and although I wished he was clearer” he stared pointedly at Hades for good measure, “Father” he called.

Hades shifted in his seat and nodded at Nico to proceed.

“Do I have a choice?”

Hades’s face looked solemn, his already pale skin drained of all color. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came, however the silence was enough of an answer to Nico.

After seeing the look of understanding on his sons face Hades began to speak, slowly.

“Nico, I have not been the greatest father to you, and you owe me nothing, but please, at least think about it”

Of all things his father would request of him, Nico never expected it to be marriage, much less with a son of Jupiter.

He thought about it, he didn’t come far though considering that his mind was too shocked to form any coherent thoughts related to the topic- also it was early in the morning and all he wanted were waffles, John’s waffles to be exact. So, he did what every unsure person did upon being met with a big decision.

Push the decision to someone else.

“Sure, if Jason’s up for it”

“Nico-“

“Brother!”

“Jason? What? It’s Jason?”

“are you serious? Is this happening _right_ now?”

Jason was silent, looking concerned and Nico felt guilty for pushing the decision-making to him. Still, it was mainly Jason’s decision

“No, Jason” Nico shook his head at Jason’s expression, already knowing reading his mind.

“please don’t think I’m being forced to this, I mean we kind of _are_ but” Nico trailed a bit, trying to find the right words. “What I mean is, I’ve been in a lot of “casual” relationships-“ Nico cringed, trying desperately to find his point, “wait no I mean-“

Jason looked confused at the admission but urged him to continue.

Nico smiled at this, and turned silent for a moment before speaking, “point is there are worse things that could happen than being married to my best friend” He finally said, and turns out that the time spent on pondering his words served its purpose for the words sank in Jason’s mind and the furrow of his brow lifted, his lips now forming an o.

He understood, _of course_ he did.

His blue eyes glimmered, and the corners of his lips tugged into an easy smile, “I _mean_ , we did already go on a date”

Nico ignored Leo’s scream and the malfunctioning of their friends’ brain as much as he could- focusing instead on Jason, he looked amused, and Nico shared that sentiment.

“Besides” Nico began, folding his arms over his chest, “Its just a title, I’m sure we can pursue _romantic_ relations outside of it” he turned towards the gods, “Am I correct?” he questioned, although it sounded like a threat.

They all nodded, and Zeus let out a breath, he laced his fingers together on his lap, “perfect”

The crowd of demigods (sans Nico and Jason) gaped at the gods, their eyes shifting from the newly engaged “couple” to the Gods.

Nico caught sight of Percy’s dumbfounded stare, he sputtered, blurting out a couple of incoherent words as Annabeth (who regained sanity quickest) patted his back harshly, he eventually regained conroll over his breathing and promptly shouted, “Just like that?! Wh-What the fuck-“

He swiveled to shout towards Nico and Jason instead, an accusing finger pointed at the two, “AND you! You!-“

Jason let out shameless chortle and Nico smirked, pointing at himself, “me?”

Percy let out a frustrated noise, and Leo- who Nico noticed was quiet this whole time- unfroze from his surprise and let out a small laugh, he was still shocked but couldn’t help but chuckle at the insanity of everything.

Percy was now screaming, “What the fuck?! Its that simple?! What is wrong with-“

Nico filtered out Percy’s words, he looked up towards Jason, meeting his sky blue eyes and calm smile, _yes, it is that simple_.

.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this braindump, comments are appreciated and fuel my lizard brain for more.  
> (Also Piper slander will not be tolerated


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